Nothing too exciting...

Well, I just thought I'd let everyone know I am surviving Mohammed-but barley! Really he's great and keeps me motivated! So far I've lost almost seven pounds-but I think a lot of that is cutting back on the beer...by order of Mohammed! I am really enjoying the gym though and I bought really cute gym clothes this weekend as an added motivator! Tony and I went to the gym this weekend-but not to work out! We went to a restraunt on the private beach instead. We had a ton of fish! Sorry to say it was overpriced and not that good-but the view was beautiful! I think it's the first bad meal I've had in Abu Dhabi.

Besides that, this weekend we had game night with new Cranium-we went through all the cards in the old one! It was a lot of fun! (No we didn't get a cat-this is Kyle and Kasey's kitten who they rescued from the alley by our building. Matt doesn't really like cats which is funny because they seem to like him!) Tony and I ordered poker chips a month ago and they arrived today which means we'll be having poker night this weekend! We're telling all of our friends to save their Durhams because we're ready to win them!

It's been kind of a weird day today. First of all-it's RAINING! I haven't seen rain since Tony and I went to Germany! The other weird thing was on my way to the gym today-there are cops EVERYWHERE and half of the roads are closed. This is because the president of the UAE and President Bush are meeting at the palace today. These aren't the greatest pics (I took them out of the car window) but this is the palace. It really is beautiful and at night there are lights on it that make it change colors. Tony and I have only been in it once for a Lockheed party but we've been wanting to take a tour.

This is the corniche with the city in the background. It's so beautiful and we've been meaning to spend more time there since the weather is so nice. Well since it's a rainy day I think I'll get to cleaning. Hope everyone is well and we love your comments-at least I know someone's reading this-lol!

Itty Bitty Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Doted Kieley

I came home from the gym yesterday to the funniest thing. Kieley likes to lay on our window sills, and our dining room table is right in front of the windows. This means that if I don't close the curtains when I leave the house Kieley will be on the table-and any thing on it is fair game.

Well one of my guilty pleasures here is buying flowers every week or so for the apartment-usually lilies because I LOVE the smell. Well, my lilies were dying, so I put the three I had left in a smaller vase. In the vase were those long blades of grass-looking things they use to decorate bouquets. Well I guess they looked like fun to Kieley because while I was gone she jumped on the table and removed a lot of them to eat.

Well when I opened the door, Kieley's head and chest were covered in yellow and red and it took me forever to figure out it was the pollen from the lilies. I died laughing she looked so hilarious. (I'm just sad the pictures didn't turn out great-something is up with my camera!) So after I stoped laughing I loaded Kieley into the tub and scrubbed her down (with her prescription dandruff shampoo so it wont aggravate her mange-or course!) and no matter how hard I tried I could not get the yellow out of her fur! So my poor Kieley has yellow polka dots all over her. Needless to say, I'll remember to shut the curtains before I leave for the gym today.

Speaking of which-I have a personal trainer now! His name is Mohammed and he very nice, but a little frightening! I was on the elliptical yesterday and he came and asked me how I was doing. I told him I was doing good but starting to get tired. He looked at me and said "If you can still talk your not tired" and reached over and turned up the resistance on the elliptical! Today is my first official meeting with him-hopefully he wont break me!

The First Week of 2008

I hope the new year is starting out wonderfully for everyone! Tony and I are doing great. I am doing good with my resolutions! This is my sixth day without a cigarette-which is NOT easy when you have four of your friends in your apartment smoking! I've warned them all (including Tony) that that's going to end soon. I haven't gone to the gym yet but I gave myself the first week off, along with permission to eat ANYTHING I wanted! But this week it's time to put resolution number two into motion. Tony and I did officially sign up for the gym this weekend. Unfortunatly I forgot to take a ton of pics but this is facing the hotel from the beach-you can kinda see the pool and then to the right those big windows are where the elypticals (with private tvs in each of them) are, and the jacuzzi! Here is the private beach. Tony and I had a great time laying out all day. The public beaches here are crazy crowded! And they don't have a net that keeps out the jellyfish-I've bumped into one but luckily I didn't get stung. There's even a little Tiki bar which is fun! It was a little cold out that day but we still went swimming anyway! Tony even dove off the floating dock they have.

I'm sure everyone is oh-so-concerned about Kieley-lol. Well we took her in to get fixed on Thursday and it couldn't happen because she has mange...not the really bad kind though, just the kind that can turn into the bad kind. And the vet thinks the deficincy in her immune system was because of all the stress she was going through before she had a home. Yes, I have a dog who has mange and is in the midst of a nervous breakdown! So she's on all kinds of meds and one is a bad tasting liquid so I hide it in ice cream so she has ice cream for breakfast every morning which she LOVES! She even likes the pills I have to drop down her troat-lol. She LOVES medicine!

The other thing we did this weekend was paint. Yup, paint. We don't techn ically know if we're allowed to paint the apartments but we didn't sign anything saying we wouldn't paint and it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission right? The other argument I have is that they do not maintain the building-the toilets leak, there's mold, ect...and there hadn't been a fresh coat of paint in at least 5 years so I did them a favor really! It's amazing how a couple gallons of paint and bookshelves make this place feel so much more homey! I actually enjoy the apartment now! Sorry the house is so messy in these pics, we had ust finished painting and the green in the hallway obviously isn't finished yet. We also got a new rug for the entry way and Kieley imediately claimed it as hers...she seriously has a thing for rugs!

Honestly, Tony and I haven't been doing very good at making Abu Dhabi a home. Instead, we've been acting like it's a very long business trip. Since we're not sure when we are coming home we decided to get comfortable here and stop whining. We hadn't even hung pictures or bought anything for the house until a couple months ago. We're also talking about Tony renting a Harley every now and then since he misses his so much.

So that's how we're starting 2008-I'm getting healthier and we are both getting happier! Hopefully everyone else's resolutions have lasted longer than 6 days too!!!

Happy New Year's Eve!

We hope everyone had a wonderful 2007! Tony and I definitly had a big year! It's fun to think about last New Years-Tony and I had a big party at our home in Texas and we got even the most reluctant of game players to have a blast playing cranium. We had no idea what life had in store for us in 2007. We moved to Abu Dhabi, I finally got to travel Europe (which had always been a big dream of mine), I have become a pretty good cook-considering how bad I was before. Lately I have been rocking the kitchen and all my dinner's have been delicious-Even with my devil oven! Tony's favorite dish I make is Mushroom Porkchops which has the most AMAZING sauce!

So of course I have made New Year's resolutions-and I have made the to most cliche resolutions ever! Number 1: I am going to quit smoking. Tony's not doing it with me which is going to be hard, but my friend Kasey downstairs is so I'll have some support from her. We are even rewarding ourselves on our first day of not smoking by going to the spa to get our nails and toes done! Number 2: Get healthy! Notice I didn't say lose weight-lol. That will be a plus, but really I just want to be healthy. Tony and I joined the gym yesterday-it's SO beautiful. I know, how many people have gym memberships they never use-but this fitness center has rewards for going! Included in the price of the gym are access to their very nice pool, their beach, and cheap massages...to name a few! So here's to a healthier (and tanner) 2008!

One of the first things we are doing in 2008 is taking Kieley in for surgery-she needs to be fixed-poor puppy! Everyday her personality is coming out more and more which is great! When we first got her, Kieley didn't know how to be dog. She didn't get excited about treats, didn't know how to fetch, or tug, or any tricks. In just the past month she has learned how to shake, LOVES treats, and can tug and fetch-but she has to be in the mood to play! I was actually excited yesterday when she tore the squeaker and fluff out of one of her toys-my dogs in Texas accomplished that within the first five minutes of getting a new toy! The other thing she loves for some reason is laying on bathmats. I bought a new one for the bathroom and she was always laying on it so I went back to Ikea and bought another one for the kitchen and then I bought her one of her own. Well instead of being excited she had a mat of her own, she thinks she has three now! Tony and I just LOVE having her in our house, she makes it feel so much more like a home!

Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's and a great 2008!

Eid and Christmas

We hope all of our family and friends had a wonderful Christmas! Thanks to everyone for all the cards and well wishes-it made us feel like we weren't so far away.

The week before Christmas the boys had a five day weekend to celebrate another Eid-we're not quite sure what this one was for though. We spent most of the time relaxing. One day a bunch of us went to the beach which was nice. It is still warm enough to go swimming but we didnt really get any color even though we were outside for most of the afternoon. (I used to turn pink just by being out for half an hour.) The boys tossed the football while us girls layed out and swam. Kieley is still afraid of the water. I took her out in the deep end a few times and she's a good swimmer-she just doesn't like to do it. On the other hand, our friend's son, Andrew, loved being in deep water!

The boys had to work Sunday and Monday before Christmas. Christmas Eve, Tony and I went to a party at a friends house and had a great time. They made Christmas dinner, and we played pool and had a White Elephant exchange that was a lot of fun. We didn't do much Christmas day. (Tony got that day off.) We just relaxed and enjoyed the middle of the week break. Tony did some studying because he is going through midterms right now. Even though it's lame, we picked out our own gifts this year. I got a new iPod that I love! Tony got a new PS3 which may not have been the best idea with it being midterms right now...

That's about all we're up too! Just wanted to day hi to everyone and we hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

New Friends to Play With!

Well a lot has happened the past couple weeks that has totally changed my daily routine-for the better!

First-Tony and I got a dog! On accident! What happened was our friend Matt decided to get a dog from the pound. I was going to watch her during the day while Matt was at work. I was so excited to have a "part-time dog." Tony and I were adament that we were not going to get a dog in Abu Dhabi because it is a very expensive hassle to ship a dog back to the States. Well after about a week it wasn't working out between Kieley (the dog) and Matt so he decided to take her back. He couldn't take her back for another week though so Tony and I volunteered to keep her during that week.

Kieley fit in perfectly in our house! She's a little cuddle bug and has a hilareous personality which comes out more and more as she gaines confidence. Well the day came and Matt took her back. I had a horrible weekend and missed having Kieley around. So Tony and I decided "What the heck!" and went to the pound and adopted her. She makes my days so much happier! And she is such an easy and loving dog. After we adopted her, Tony and I found out that the dogs can only be at the kennel for six months before they get put down to make room for other dogs (the kennel can only hold 6 dogs at one time). Well Kieley had been there four and a half months. This fact confirmed we had made the right decision!

This is Kieley on our window sill. She likes to sit up there in the sun and and growl & bark at the people waiting for taxis or playing cricket.

To be honest, Abu Dhabi is not the greatest place to be a dog. The people here do not see dogs as pets but as animals, and they do not understand why the British and American population here would let an animal live in their houses, clean up its poop, ect. This often results in stray dogs being abused. There are only two shelters here. The dogs you find at pet stores (like the one two blocks down from here) are often half-starved, abused, and have all kinds of diseases. It is a little humorous because when I walk Kieley many of the locals are so intimidated by her that they will actually walk across the street (usually in a hurry) to get away from her. And she is a very timid 30 lb dog! On the other hand, the local children who play cricket across the street love her. I always make sure to stop and let them pet and play with her, hopefully, so that they'll grow up with a different attitude towards dogs than the majority of the population.

My other exciting news is that Kyle's wife, Kasey, and son, Andrew, moved here a week ago! I love hanging out with Kasey and it's so nice to have a female friend to hang out with during the day while the boys are at work. The other day Kasey and I loaded up Andrew and Kieley and walked to the beach which is about an hour away. It was Andrew's first time to see the beach and he had a blast!

In two weeks I went from spending weekdays alone to having two great friends so things are going great here! Now that it's cooled off in the evenings we have been BBQ-ing a lot and having game nights. We actually need to get the new Cranium edition because we've gone through all the cards! Tony only has to work two days this week because of a local holiday so I'm sure there'll be some more beach trips and BBQ-ing soon!

We hope eveyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Love you!

Thanksgiving and a few other tidbits...

Well, we hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day! We had a bunch of fun...even if things were a little hectic. We spent the night before playing euchre and making some cheesecake. We gave our friend Matt the job of crushing up grahm crackers and let's just say he really got into the roll.

Tony took the day off, so while the rest of the boys were at work Tony and I got to sleep in. The morning didn't start out too well for me. I was making breakfast and after burning the first batch of bacon, I ended up dropping the whole pan of bacon, grease and all, on the floor. Then, I decided to rearrange the living room so we could put the island in the dining room table-and I broke the coffee table somehow. You name it and Thanksgiving morning I either broke it, spilled it, or triped on it. We still had a great time.

With all that was going wrong I was really nervous about making homemade rolls from scratch which I had never done before. Thank goodness they turned out beautifully!

Besides taking all day to make dinner, Tony and I were using all of our friends ovens as well which means we had things in 5 ovens at once sometimes!

Even through all the craziness, Tony and I had a wonderful day together. Dinner turned out so YUMMY! I know Thanksgiving is all about the food, but I have to admit that my crowning glory was the table. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it the table all decked out...but check out those napkin roses! Yep-I did those! (If Aunt Elaine and Uncle Ron read this-yes those are bottles of Amorone on the the table-I think the exact same wine we had at your house! We managed to find three bottles here and it was a big hit at dinner!)

Prior to Thanksgiving we had told all of our friends that in order to eat dinner they had to dress up as either an indian or a pilgrim. We were joking of course, but thought it'd be pretty funny if anyone actually did it. And someone did! Here's Kyle who was a wonderful sport-he actaully went to the Carefore (the grocery store here) and bought crayons and spent and evening making his costume.
One of the firends who joined us for Thanksgiving was Kat who is from Iran but lives in Dubai now. We had a wonderful time explaining Thanksgiving to her. And since it was her frist Thanksgiving, we let her do the wishbone-but first, Tony taught her how to win. And she did of course!

We spent the rest of the evening playing euchre and Cranium. While we were sad not to be home for Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful time celebrating with all of our Abu Dhabi friends! But after making that meal, Tony and I are thinking instead of making Christmas dinner in a couple weeks, we're going to have everyone over for desserts and drinks instead!

The next day Tony and I had to drive to Oman-AGAIN- to get my passport stamped. This is the new mosque that is being built in Abu Dhabi-the largest mosque in the world. I think I read something that said it could hold 45,000 people during prayer!
The other interesring thing we saw on the trip was a little pickup with a gigantic camel just laying in the back...weird! What was even more surprizing than seeing seeing a camel in the bed of a truck crusing down the highway, was that the camel seemed to enjoy it!

Since then Tony and I have just been hanging out. We had another Lockheed party last night that was in a beautiful ballroom. The reason for the party was to welcome Ralph Heath, second in command of Lockheed Martin. He got up and made a speech and everything and as soon as he was done the power went out in the entire hotel! Tony and I used the sudden pitch black darkness to make our escape!

Well that's about it for now! We love and miss everyone!